This movie was a Wagnerian epic about a bowler who is
unemployed, smokes too much pot and listens to a lot of Creedence
Clearwater Revival. As such, the soundtrack reflects much of this
epic (and satirically so) tone - from the la-la-la of the opening
Bob Dylan song to the bizarre nature of Meredith Monk's entry, we
get a wide variety of songs conveying many diverse emotions.

The soundtrack doesn't hold together entirely well, however. The
first three or so tracks are great, and go together very well. The
transfer from Elvis Costello's "My Mood Swings" to "Ataypura" by
Yma Sumac is a bit rough, but the song works out well despite that.
In fact, that one song conveys the attitude of the movie -
grandiose, despite stupidity.

"Traffic Boom" has a driving bass line, overlaid with great
bombastic trumpets and other brass - it's a great song, very much
like "Peter Gunn" in feel, but a bit more outgoing. We continue the
sort-of retro feel with "I've Got It Bad And That Ain't Good," a
softly bluesy, jazzy song by Nina Simone. It's plodding, but her
voice is outstanding. "Stamping Ground" is very enjoyable - it
consists of two disconnected but related pieces of music, strung
together with dialogue read in the middle. It's very simple, with
heavy percussion, but keeps the listeners attention quite nicely.
The first half seems like a canvas that keeps getting painted over
- more and more layers of sound and music add until the climax. The
second half proceeds much the same, but with heavier clarinets and
snare drums, thus similar in style but different in melody.

We move back into the 'pop' music section with Kenny Rogers'
biting "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was
In)". Meredith Monk presents "Walking Song," which consists
entirely of vocal noises, like gasping singing, one from each
stereo channel. I like this song a lot - it's unique, interesting,
and very expressive.

Then an opera segment, as well as a Henry Mancini song, bring us
back into the "classical" segment of the disc. The excerpt, from
"Die Tote Stadt" is very much a stereotypical opera - which is
precisely what it needed to be to keep the mood. The Mancini piece
is a very flowery piece - one that the sunrise sequence of a
cartoon might be set to. The latin version of "Hotel California" by
the Gipsy Kings is just great - it's not just a cover, it's a
reinvention. The German techno song that follows it is mainly for
atmospheric effect, and I don't particularly care for it.

"Dead Flowers" by Townes Van Zandt is an appropriate way to
finish the disc - a bit melancholy, but not really depressing.

This disc is good - but it seems to be a bit short of a full
album. The songs don't flow together terribly well, and it comes
across as a bit of a jarring effect at times. It isn't as great as
the sum of its parts - which is a shame, because its parts add up
nicely. It's definitely a great counterpoint to the film, as it
captures the essence of the movie quite nicely.